The New Neighbour AU
by Merthergirl
Summary: In which Merlin is a book shop owner and Arthur an artist.  AU for modern day, new setting and situation.  :D
1. Chapter 1

The new neighbour (AU)

**In which Merlin is a book shop owner and Arthur an artist.**

**AU for modern day, new setting and situation.**

**Arthur x Merlin**

**Oh and please review, makes me motivated to write quicker :D**

**And I've corrected it so now instead of brown eyes it says blue haha :P**

Arthur groaned and searched in coat pockets for the door keys desperately. His flat mate Gwaine was away on holiday with his parents for another three days- how was he going to get in without his key? Sighing, Arthur decided to go across the hall to his neighbour, and ask either her or her son for their spare key. **Knock Knock.**

To Arthur's surprise, it wasn't Dannie or her teenage son Freddie. Instead a young man with large and beautiful blue eyes peered at him timidly from behind a half-open door, which revealed mountains of cardboard moving boxes filled with, if Arthur's eyes worked properly, thousands of old books. The man, five years younger then senior-in-collage Arthur, nervously emerged from behind the doorway, revealing chocolate coloured short hair, pale skin and the cutest outfit Arthur had ever seen- denim dungarees and a plain white t-shirt finished with bunny slippers. "Yes?" His voice was as small as his frame, and he looked at Arthur with gorgeous curiosity in his face.

"H-Hello." Arthur grinned cheekily, "And who might you be?"

"My name's Merlin Emrys." The man wiped his hand self-consciously on his leg despite the fact there was no dirt, and took Arthur's hand. Arthur shook it gently, feeling if he grasped him too hard the man in front of him would break, "Dannie and Freddie switched apartments with me because she's expecting another baby and my friend moved in with his girlfriend. Therefore I had extra room and she had a cheap apartment with a beautiful view of Camelot. I've always liked cosy places- I'm sorry what's your name? I tend to ramble a lot."

"My name's Arthur." Arthur grinned, eyes flickering over Merlin again, "welcome to the building."

"Nice to meet you. It's lovely of you to come to greet me!" Merlin smiled.

"No problem." Arthur said, "But to be honest I didn't just come here to say hello- I believe you have a spare key to my apartment somewhere?"

"Oh! Yeah, of course!" Merlin smiled, "Do you want to come in or… you're probably busy I'll just go get your key..."

"No I have time!" Arthur smirked, following the man into his flat.

"Sorry about the mess." Merlin apologised bashfully, "I've only just moved in, you see, and I haven't built my bookshelves yet…"

"I could help you build them." Arthur said, watching Merlin blush an adorable pink,

"No, I couldn't ask you to do that." Merlin said quietly. He spoke in a smooth, soft tone always, and his eyes carried the same mellow look about them. Arthur grinned. Where had this angel come from?

"You're not asking, I'm offering." Arthur smiled, watching the brunette rummage through a pile of random items before retrieving the key.

"Really? Thank you! I'll make you a coffee? Tea?" Merlin said, giving him the key,

"Sure, just let me put away this." Arthur gestured to the canvas in his arms.

"Just put it down there." Merlin said, "Are you an artist?"

"Aspiring." Arthur said modestly. He propped the canvas against the wall and walked inside the apartment.

"Wow." Merlin said, mouth open in awe. The canvas had the perfect image of an old-fashioned knight, in full armour, sword glinting in the light of the sunset.

"Do you… like it?" Arthur asked, shuffling his feet modestly.

"I love it!" Merlin grinned, "It's amazing! Did you paint this?"

"Yes." Arthur smiled, grinning stupidly. Merlin beamed, "Brilliant. Tea or coffee?"  
>"Coffee, please." Arthur said, still smiling. He tried to stop, in case it was freaking Merlin out, but he couldn't. The other man was too darn cute…<p>

Merlin made the drink, "Take a seat um…" he looked around at the book-covered apartment, "Hold on." He lifted a few piles of books from a chair, "Here."

"Thanks." Arthur smiled, "Hold on." He put his cup down, "Let me help."

"Th-thank you." Merlin smiled adorably, "So… ehe… are you single?"

**Please review :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two!

**Oh, I'm going to write a series of fanfictions as a sort of advent calendar this Christmas, if you want it to be written with scenes from the Merlin fandom please vote on my profile :D thanks!**

**Thanks for reading and to all those that reviewed: HOORAH!**

**Haha please read and review :D**

Arthur couldn't believe his luck. Not only had a gorgeous young man moved in across the hall but he was also enquiring as to his relationship status.

"Single, at the moment." Arthur grinned, "But looking. You?"

Merlin blushed, "I just broke up with my boyfriend. That's really why I moved, to get away from him."

"Ah." Arthur smiled, "A bit of a bastard, was he?"

"Yeah." Merlin said, "I left when he started hitting me."

"Hitting you?" Arthur yelped, "I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be." Merlin smiled, shuffling his feet and going slightly scarlet.

"So…" Arthur flirted, "Can I buy you a drink?"

"um. No thanks." Merlin said awkwardly, "I don't drink alcohol."

"Oh." Arthur said, a little taken aback. Then again, had he expected the angel to be a drinker? "Can I buy you a coffee?"

"Sure!" Merlin beamed. Arthur felt his heart skip a beat. "But." Merlin said, "Aren't we already having coffee?"

"Yeah." Arthur grinned at the perfectly adorable man, "But I meant it as in a proper date. Say, tomorrow lunch?"

Merlin beamed an even larger smile. Arthur gaped. He'd never seen such beauty. "Sure! I'd love to! Can I give you my number?"

"No." Arthur joked. Merlin giggled and wrote his number down. His handwriting was scruffy, and it looped gently after every number. Surprisingly, it was exactly how Arthur had predicted it would be.

…

"Hey, listen mate, I'm coming home early. Should be back in a few hours. Got some bad news."

Arthur frowned and re-listened to Gwaine's message. Bad news? Arthur threw the canvas onto the sofa and scrawled Merlin's number into his address book. The message had been left a few hours ago- so Gwaine was due any minute now.

Almost as if by magic, the door behind him opened and Gwaine walked into the flat, shoulders slumped and head drooped. "Gwaine? What's the matter?"

"Lance's sick. Really sick." Gwaine said, before throwing himself onto the sofa, just missing Arthur's painting.

"What's wrong with him?" Arthur asked. Gwaine and Lancelot had been dating for just over a year, but it was only three weeks ago Lancelot had quit smoking. That had turned out to be too late, Gwaine explained, that the cancer had already started taking effect.

"Is it terminal?" Arthur whispered, wrapping his arm around Gwaine.

"N-no." Gwaine whimpered, "But it's bad."

Arthur sighed. Why was life so unfair for good people?

…

"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that!" Merlin said, genuinely upset for him. he reached out and stroked Arthur's palm gently. Arthur smiled slightly and sipped his coffee. Merlin, who had gone for a milkshake instead, sucked on the straw absent-mindedly and grimaced, "Oh! Brain freeze!"

Arthur grinned as Merlin screwed up his face tight, sticking out his tongue. Arthur whipped out his camera and took a photo, thinking how brilliant a painting that moment would make.

"So, what do you want to do? Plenty of cool places in Camelot." Arthur grinned.

"I don't know." Merlin smiled, "I've never been here. What's there to do?"

"We could… go to the park? Museum?"

"How about the art gallery?" Merlin grinned, eyes shining, "Have you got any work up in there?"

"I have a few pieces." Arthur blushed, "But they're not very good-"

"Let's go!" Merlin grinned.

Arthur smiled as he watched Merlin scamper off clumsily. He paid the bill and ran after him, grabbing his hand.

**I know it's short :P please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed :D please review this and check out my other stories, specially if you like Jeeves and Wooster, Sherlock, Torchwood, Dr Who or the big bang theory! :D**

"Woah." Merlin grinned, wide eyes staring up at the painting. In the centre sat a woman half-turned to them, large eyes streaming tears. She was completely naked, covering her small breasts with one stick-thin arm and trying to cover her face with a skeleton-thin hand. The title was engraved in her shoulder, dripping blood: Abuse.

Arthur stood beside him, blushing furiously, "What do you think?"

"It's so deep!" Merlin grinned, eyes shining.

Arthur smiled, relieved. Most people told him it was 'shocking'.

"I can relate to her." Merlin said quietly, staring into the painted golden eyes.

Arthur tilted his head, gazing at him. There were no signs of abuse on his beautiful body. But he had said that his boyfriend had beaten him.  
>"Yes but in the painting she's been sexually abused." Arthur said.<p>

"I know." Merlin said morbidly.

Arthur patted his shoulder, "I have a few happier paintings here." He gestured along the hall. Merlin grinned and took his hand shyly, wandering down the hall. The angel blushed and glanced at the paintings, trying to avoid meeting Arthur's eyes, to avoid having a soppy grin on his face.

Arthur was also having a problem with keeping the silly smile back. He'd never seen someone so beautiful. He had totally forgotten about anything else. All he could do was take in the gorgeous man in front of him. "Wow!" Merlin exclaimed. A beautiful sunset met his eyes, "You are so talented."

"Thank you." Said Arthur, smiling and turning Merlin to look at him. Merlin gave him a seductive smile and batted his eyelashes.

"Woah…" Arthur murmered, feeling like his mind had just been blown.

Then Merlin's phone rang, "Hold on. Oh. Hi Gwen. Yes. I'm actually with him now. No. you can't talk to him. no." Merlin blushed again. Arthur grinned and grabbed the phone off him,

"Hello!"

Down the phone a young woman spoke, "Hey! You must be Arthur! I'm Gwen. Merlin's best friend! And this is Will- WILL! HE'S ON THE PHONE- hehe."  
>Arthur raised an eyebrow at Merlin who was biting his lip nervously.<p>

"Hello." The man sounded bemused, "Artie."

"Arthur." Arthur corrected.

"Whatever. Gwen come on we're going to be late."

"Aaaw. Fine." The woman was back on the phone, having turned off the speaker, "He's nervous coz he's about to do his driving test. Anyhoo, I expect to see you in person soon!"

"You too." Laughed Arthur, watching Merlin go crimson.

"They're weird, I know." He mumbled, twiddling his thumbs, "You don't have to meet them."

"I'd love to." Arthur grinned.

Merlin's entire face brightened, and he clapped his hands together in happiness, "Hooray!"

Arthur smirked, "But…"

"Huh?" Merlin peered at him nervously.

"I want a kiss first." Arthur grinned.

Merlin blinked, giggled sweetly and leant up to kiss him chastely. Having none of that, Arthur deepened the kiss and pulled him close by his slim waist, loving how petite the other was. Merlin kissed him back and draped his arms around Arthur's neck about the most opposite of gracefully you could possibly get. It was adorable, and Arthur told him so.

Merlin just giggled and kissed him again.

**I know it's short but I'm meant to be revising ^_^ x Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

The new neighbour- 4

**Thanks for reviewing :D please review :D oh, and there's a poll on my profile to vote for next year's slash calendar :D please do vote, maybe Merlin will be the fandom leading you through next year's holiday!**

Arthur, having told Gwaine all about the angel across the hall, was regretting having such a big mouth. Gwaine leapt to his feet, "I think I should meet this… Merlin!"

"No. no! you can't meet him! you'll frighten him!" Arthur yelped.

"If you meet his mates he'll have to meet yours!" cackled Gwaine as he ran across the hall and knocked on the door.

Arthur stood in the doorway to their flat and watched in horror- no way would Merlin ever want to date him with such a weirdo for a flatmate!

"Yes?" Merlin stepped outside, azure eyes blinking sleepily. He wore an all in one pyjama suit with attached bunny ears and fluffy tail. And, Arthur noticed with a slightly perverse glee, mittens and socks. "Oh! Arthur!" he blushed, "Hi… ummm sorry I'm in my pjs… what do you want at this time of night?"

"It's nine." Said Gwaine.

"Yeah? I go to bed at nine." Merlin said, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fist. He was the perfect picture of innocence and beauty. Arthur resisted the urge to: aaw!

"Gwaine wanted to meet you." Arthur said, "He's my flatmate."

"Oh!" Merlin said, blushing an even deeper red, "Hello! Nice to meet you! Do you want to come in?"

"It's fine." Arthur said, but Gwaine interrupted,

"Yes please!"

Merlin opened the door to reveal his apartment. It smelt like him now instead of the old neighbour: like musty books and hot chocolate- Merlin's favourite drink. He had tidied up a little since Arthur had last been there- some of the boxes were gone and five bookcases stood at the back of the living room, holding the same works they had previously.

Gwaine beamed and hurried inside. Arthur followed, trying not to look like he was imposing, "He's cute Arthur." Gwaine grinned, "Really cute!"

"I know." Arthur grinned.

Merlin, as soon as he had shut the door, slammed his head against the wall and cursed himself. Why had he decided to wear that outfit? Why, lord, why? And Arthur just had to decide to bring his friend, who also lived across the hall, didn't he? He sighed, and gasped at his reflection in horror. His hair was messed up from where he had been lying in bed reading a book to lull himself to sleep, creating some random tufts over his head. Groaning, he changed into baggy jeans and a baby blue jumper, and tried to flatten his hair.

"Merlin?" crap! That was Arthur, gorgeous Arthur, right outside the door!

"Yes?" Merlin asked, straightening his jumper and opening the door.

"I'm sorry to intrude." Arthur grinned. He was leaning against the frame of the door, grinning down at him with a glint in his eye far too familiar for Merlin's liking. It reminded him of his ex-boyfriend- perverse thoughts. What made him even more anxious however, was Gwaine waving and grinning in the background. Just like when he had met his ex-boyfriend's friends and… oh god.

Merlin took a step back, feeling terror creeping up his spine and his head spinning.

"Merlin?" Arthur stepped towards him. he was too close for Merlin's frantic, panicked mind and suddenly the entire room was spinning along with his head, and his vision was failing…

"MERLIN!"

*thud*

….

"Merlin?" Arthur's voice was soft, gentle. But Merlin wasn't ready to sit up yet. His head still spun and every horrid memory cursed through his body like an electric shock.

**Please review, sorry I haven't updated in ages!**


	5. Chapter 5

The new neighbour-5

**To Assassin of Rome for her birthday :D**

**Everyone please review :D**

While they were there, Arthur and Gwaine visited Lancelot, who was in hospital with his cancer, and filled him in. to their surprise, it appeared that Lancelot knew Merlin. They'd studied together in university; English lit.

"Let's go see him!" he grinned, wrapping his headscarf tighter around his shaved head and following them out the room. The chemotherapy had deemed him almost bald so he'd just shaved it off to save the hassle. Besides, he had joked to Gwaine, now he could live life as he'd wanted to as a kid: a pirate.

"Sure." Arthur said. They wandered to Merlin's room, where the nurses were taking his bloodtest. He waved at them, blushing. "Hello! Haven't seen you in ages Lance."

"You neither!" breathed Lancelot, shaking his delicate hand, "Sorry if these two gits scared you!"

Merlin laughed, "It's alright. They didn't really. It's just…" the shade of red deepened, "My past."  
>Arthur softened and put a hand on the other man's shoulder gently. Merlin grinned at him, eyes brightening.<p>

"It's alright." The blond grinned.

Gwaine started making kiss noises, to Arthur's great irritance.

"Shut up." He smiled.

Merlin just beamed and rested his head on Arthur's shoulder.

…

"Hey Gwen, Will!" Merlin called, opening the door with the spare key Gwen had given him when he lived with her.

"Hey Merlin! We're upstairs!" Gwen sang from her room.

"Okay." He said, hurrying up the stairs to where Will and Gwen sat cross-legged on the bed, watching an old movie on the hanging box TV.

"Hey." Will grinned and patted the bed beside him. Merlin flung himself on the mattress.

"Hey… listen, can you help me with something?"  
>"Sure!" Gwen grinned.<p>

"I really like this guy…. Arthur… he's an artist. Really good, too, brilliant actually." Merlin blushed, twiddling his fingers, "And he likes me back!"

"So…" Gwen frowned, "What do you need help with?

"He wants to meet you. Which I want to happen too… it's just… can you be nice to him? I really like him."

"We're always nice to your boyfriends!" Gwen grinned, then paused, "Alright, fine. We're always nice to the boyfriends we like."

"I'm worried that if you don't like him he won't like me." Merlin explained, biting his lip.

"So… we be nice?"

"Please." Merlin begged.

"Fine." Gwen said, "But we have to meet him first to be nice to him!"

"I… you can't argue with that logic." Merlin grinned.

**Please review **


	6. Chapter 6

Six-

**To Helen on her birthday, you're mentioned in this chapter, but I didn't write you in the action per say; I'm not too good with OOCs and I wanted to stick to the plot :D**

Merlin smiled and knocked on the door of Arthur's flat, heart beat increasing as he heard the other man walking towards the door. Almost the instant he opened the door, however, Merlin's phone rang.

"One sec." the man blushed, lifting the device to his ear, "Hello?"

"Hey Merlin!" His sister's cheery voice rang in his ear, "It's Helen."

"Oh. Hey." He said, mouthing the words _my sister_ to Arthur, who was tempted to snatch the phone from him to say hello, before thinking better of it and resisting. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Helen sang. In the background the mumble of her husband Cenred's voice could clearly be heard, "Just wondering if you're happy at your new place."

"Yes, I am. Thanks for asking." Merlin smiled, "I was going to call but I got a little…" he glanced at Arthur, cheeks descending into a rich blush, "Distracted."

"Distracted?" Helen stopped whatever she was doing, "Merlin? Is there a guy?"

"Well… kind of." Merlin gushed as Arthur winked cheekily at him.

"Ooh… he nice?"

"Ask Gwen. He's meeting them tonight."

Aware Merlin was discussing him, Arthur straightened and smiled sweetly, trying not to go red or uncomfortable.

"Alright. But don't think I won't!"

"Bye Helen."  
>"No- don't-"<p>

"We're just about to leave, Helen."

"Oooh. Alright then. Bye!"

"Bye." Merlin hang up before glancing bashfully at Arthur, "That was my sister… Helen."  
>"I look forward to meeting her someday." Arthur hinted unashamedly.<p>

Merlin just blushed crimson and lead him to his car: an adorable red mini.

"Wonderful." Arthur breathed, clambering into the passenger's seat. Merlin grinned and climbed into the driver's seat, and began the car.

As they arrived at the house, Arthur felt the nerves that should have come earlier. "Don't worry." Merlin smiled, "They'll love you."

Arthur nodded, and followed him to the door, on which Merlin knocked gently, calling up to "GWEN" in the upstairs window.

A dark girl with a beautiful face opened the window, and grinned at them. "Hey! Come upstairs!"  
>They could hear Will telling her to shut the window because it was cold in the background. Merlin rolled his eyes and swung the door open. "They should really learn to lock this."<p>

"Do they… live together?" Arthur asked.

"No, well, yes, but they're step brother and sister." Merlin explained, shutting the door behind them.

"Ah. Okay." Arthur smiled nervously.

Merlin kissed him chastely, "Don't worry. They'll love you!"

"Sure? What should I talk about?"

"Um… anything really… except… well, Gwen's a strong feminist. And Will's a bit of an anarchist… just don't bring up politics. Talk about art, and books." He smiled.

Arthur swallowed nervously. Oh dear. He was, too, a believer in equal rights, but an anarchist could sometimes make atmosphere very difficult- especially when trying to avoid politics. It all depended how strongly Will believed in anarchy-

"So I said, DOWN WITH GOVERNMENT and the police started getting really-" as Will ranted on, Gwen, Merlin and Arthur tried to look like they were listening. Merlin's cheeks were now scarlet, and he mouthed 'sorry' over and over at Arthur, who waved the apology away each time.

"Will!" Gwen suddenly interjected, "Do shut up. So… Arthur… tell us about…. Merlin." Her eyes glinted in mischief.

Arthur froze.

How could he describe Merlin? The other man was too… heavenly for words. But if he said that they'd call him cheesy… he took a deep breath and began…

**Hehe. Please review :D**


	7. Chapter 7

The new neighbour- 7.

**Sorry for the delay :3 please review!**

"Merlin is…" Arthur swallowed, "Merlin is the… only…" he sighed, "It's hard to explain. I've never felt like this before- and I really do mean that, I'm not just saying that to sound cheesy! He's a breath of fresh air for a man cooped up indoors for a year and a half, he's the ever-intelligent Jeeves to my rather scatter-brained Wooster, he's the loyal Watson to my weird Holmes, the Fry to my Laurie the…." He broke off, eyes gazing into the distance, "He…" he smiled, and laughed, "He's too good for these words."

Will didn't look too impressed, but Gwen and Merlin's eyes had filled with tears.

…

"OH MERLIN MARRY HIM!" Gwen shrieked, as Arthur called for a taxi. Will rolled his eyes, but Merlin found himself grinning along with his friend.

"I want to!" the surprised book-worm clamped a hand over his mouth and blushed.

Gwen grinned evilly. "I'll tell him-"

"NO GWEN PLEASE!" Merlin giggled.

…

**Knock. Knock. **

"Merlin!" The landlady grinned, "What a surprise! Come in!"

"I brought the little'un some chocolates- I heard he wasn't feeling too good."  
>"Oh you are a sweet heart!" Janice grinned, "Come and talk to him, he could use some company other than me."<p>

"Hey sport." Merlin said, grinning at the child, "I brought chocolates."

The boy grinned, "Thanks Merlin!"  
>"No problem."<br>Merlin smiled and waved again, leaving the flat and hurrying up the stairs. He ran into Gwaine, who grinned, "Hey there."

"Oh. Hello." Merlin blushed.

"Why were you in Janice's house? You're not her latest toyboy are you? Arthur will be jealous!" Gwaine joked.

"No, her kid Toby's a little ill." Merlin smiled, "I popped in to give him some chocolates." 

…

"He did?" Arthur grinned. "How sweet."

"He's a keeper." Gwaine said, grinning.

Lancelot, who was lounging on the sofa, agreed and flicked the TV channel onto the news.

_Drew Sullivan, well-known partner abuser from east-london, has been let out of jail for good behaviour after just a quarter of his sentence. Sullivan, whose statement to the police was, "Yeah I did it and I'd do it again", has been rumoured to have declared to his cell mate, "He will pay." Police are now monitoring him to make sure he is as secure as the authority believes. _

Arthur and Gwaine continued with their lives. Lancelot, who had known Merlin's ex-lover, and therefore was aware of his name, swallowed and announced that he was going out for some fresh air. Instead of this, he crossed the hall and, on allowance, entered Merlin's flat, and delivered the news.

Merlin trembled, biting his lip, "Oh no. what am I going to do?"

**Sorry it's short! Please review :D**


	8. Chapter 8

Eight

**Please, please review :D **

"Calm down." Arthur said, wrapping an arm around Merlin, "You'll be fine."

"Oh god." Merlin whispered, cuddling into his boyfriend, "Oh god help me."

"It'll be ok." Lancelot said, wheeling into the room, followed by a determined looking Gwaine.

"Yes, We'll keep him away from you." Gwaine grinned.

Merlin said nothing, just tried to level his head. Memories, terrible, painful, awful memories flooded back into his mind, and he had to sit down to stop himself fainting. Arthur followed, bewildered and anxious, concern for the man he barely knew and yet knew so well growing deep within him. The man's arms felt more than comforting as Merlin rested his head on his shoulder. It was odd how strongly he felt for him after such a short time. Maybe Arthur was right. Maybe he would be fine. Maybe Arthur would make sure he was fine.

Lance and Gwaine were talking about some security stuff, and Arthur was conversing along, but Merlin couldn't bear to talk about it. Maybe he could pretend that it wasn't happening…

But that had never worked before.

"_Please stop!" He had whimpered, struggling against the iron-clad arms of his boyfriend, Drew, as he was lifted and pressed against the wall, his legs spread painfully wide to allow Sullivan to have his way with him. His boyfriend just laughed and went harder. Merlin tried to block it out, tried to stop the horror that was surrounding him, inside him, hurting him, making him bleed, making his world become one big nightmare…_

_And when Drew's friends came around it was worse. It was so much worse. He'd tried and tried to forget reality, to pretend that it wasn't happening, to act happy in front of others but eventually, when Gwen found out, he had allowed himself to return. _

_That's why he loved books so much. They enabled him- still did- to escape reality. He had hoped, with the help of his friends and books, to bear staying with Drew, but that all washed away when the police came. He realised the full extent of the abuse he'd suffered, and he was so glad it was over. He wanted to move on and forget that it'd ever happened. Like the chapters in a book, he'd finished that part of his life, and it was time to move on._

They stayed in each others' arms until the the next morning, not saying much, not needing to; Arthur not wanting to pry, Merlin not wanting to talk, both wanting to hold one another. It was a oddly wonderful time and both felt immensely good about the relationship afterwards.

At eight o'clock exactly Merlin stirred from where he had come to rest on Arthur's shoulder on the sofa, and he laughed as Arthur jumped awake, startled by the sudden movement, "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No." Arthur joked, leaning to kiss him chastely, "But you did scare the shit out of me." Merlin laughed again, running a hand through his already untidy hair and making it messier. Realising, he tried to smooth it down, but Arthur stopped him, "Don't- it's cute."

Merlin smiled sweetly and lay back down, repositioning them so that they lay facing the ceiling. Interlinking their fingers, the brunette rested his head on Arthur's shoulder and said, "I like this."

"What?" the artist asked, turning to look at the most beautiful potential muse in the universe.

"Waking up next to you." Merlin yawned, not embarrassed to say so, and Arthur agreed, burying his face into Merlin's hair and kissing his forehead. Merlin smiled and turned to meet his lips in a kiss and they lay there, staring into each others' eyes for some time without moving. Or blinking. Arthur's eyes were beginning to sting by the time Merlin withdrew, giggling and snuggling into his chest, and the blond thanked whoever controlled the universe for the rest, closing his eyes.

"What day is it?" Merlin questioned, rolling over again, ignoring Arthur's complaints and throwing his arm over his personal planner on the coffee table beside the sofa. He squinted sleepily at the text, "Oh, a Sunday. Good."

"We can sleep in." Arthur said, throwing himself back into the sofa and pulling the brunette with him, laughing when Merlin hit the soft of the material with an, "oof!" sound.

"You are the world's cutest book shop owner, Merlin." Arthur said, and Merlin laughed, "You'd make a perfect muse."

"Maybe you should paint me," Merlin-the-figeter said, leaping to his knees before the artist, "In a dramatic pose!" He struck a comedically serious victory pose and Arthur burst into a fit of laughter. Giggling, Merlin sprung to his feet, "Or one in despair!" he threw his arm over his eyes and pulled a very sad face, making Arthur laugh harder.

"Or maybe…" Arthur grabbed at the brunette, "I could paint a very silly pretty person in his main stance- figeting ridiculously."

"I do not figet!" Merlin said, figeting in Arthur's arms. They both laughed again, and only stopped when there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it." Arthur said, stretching and walking to the door, pulling a face at the brunette, who was 'hiding' behind the sofa.

When he opened the door to see a very mournful looking Drew Sullivan, Arthur could've had a heart attack.

**Please review **


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